Dish fastener for dining tables



g- 1, 1950 L. NICHOLSON 2,517,018

DISH FASTENER FOR DINING TABLES Filed July 12, 1945 In. 4 1 M WWW Patented Aug. 1, 1950 .nrsn FASTENER FOR DININGLTABLES Leonard L. Nicholson, Erlton, N. El. Application July 12, 1945, Serial No. 604,549

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to ways and means of temporarily and releasably anchoring a dish on a serving table, the same having more particular reference to a butter dish and the anchoring means therefor being a snap fastener, one of the fastener elements being carried by the butter dish and the other by the table.

More specifically, the invention relates to small butter dishes such as are used in restaurants for serving individual portions of butter. It is known that these dishes slip and slide, and when the butter is hard, embarrassing accidents often occur. Therefore, it is the object of the present invention to fasten the butter dish, temporarily, of course, to the restaurant table top at a predetermined point, this by way of suitable snap fastener means, thus meeting the requirements of the trade.

Stated along lines more specifically, a female fastener is embedded in the top of the table, a male fastener element being carried by the bot tom of the butter dish to snap into said female fastener. What is more important, the fastener element on the bottom of the butter dish is such that it does not interfere with adequate and satisfactory dishwashing and also allows butter dishes to be stacked in nested relation without interference.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation showing the butter dish, table and coacting fastener elements which go to make up the so-called snap fastener means.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the assembly seen in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view through two of the dishes showing same nested and stacked.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the female fastening means in the table.

Referring to the drawings, the table is denoted by the numeral 6 and is provided with a recess, as at 1, to accommodate an annulus 8, and a counter recess 9 to accommodate the retention spring I carried by the under side of the annulus. Thecentral opening II in the annulus serves to accommodate the male headed fastener element I 2 and the side members l3 of the spring project into the hole or opening II and serve to accommodate said headed fastener. The undercut portion or counter recess 9 serves to permit expansion and contraction of the spring parts l3. The headed fastener I2 is formed integral with the bottom M of the butter dish l5, the

latter being provided with the usual marginal rim l6.

It is evident that in practice the headed fastener simply passes through the head hole H in the annulus or plate 8 and drops down into the recess therebeneath where it is held yieldably and releasably in place by the retaining parts I 3.

The important thing to note is the combination of the table, butter dish and snap fastener means between the two parts. Just as important to note is the fact that the headed fastener 12 is carried by the bottom of the butter dish, the butter dishes being such as to be nested into one another, as shown in Figure 3.

It is customary in certain restaurants and similar eating places to serve pats of butter in small cardboard and equivalent dishes or containers. Some of these are variously corrugated and to that extent fancy. My purpose in mentioning this is to stress the fact that the dish constituting the subject of this invention might be ornamented either to take the place of the usual cardboard dish, or it may be shaped up in such a way as to permit the customary cardboard dish to be placed therein. Or to put it otherwise, the invention will be such as to ac-' commodate the use of cardboard dishes wherever the proprietor of the restaurant continues to use same.

A careful consideration of the foregoing description in conjunction with the invention as illustrated in the drawings will enable the reader to obtain a clear understanding and impression of the alleged features of merit and novelty sufficient to clarify the construction of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Minor changes in shape, size, materials and rearrangement of parts may be resorted to in actual practice so long as no departure is made from the invention as claimed.

I claim:

A restaurant table to support and temporarily hold in place a butter dish of a kind having a flat bottom with a headed central stud providing one fastener of a snap fastener assemblage, comprising a flat table top provided with a recess forming a headed stud receiving socket, said recess being provided with a circular counterbore, an annular plate fitted in said counterbore and having its top flush with the flat top of said table, and an elongated stud accommodating and retaining spring, said spring being mounted in said socket and held in place by said plate, said spring having opposed parallel limb portions registrable with the central opening in said plate and the distance between the interposed edges of said limbs being appreciably less than the diameter of said central stud opening.

LEONARD L. NICHOLSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 15,212 Mann Oct. 25, 1921 386,750 Kimball July 24, 1888 519,529 Cofiin May 8, 1894 549,278 Ryan Nov. 5, 1895 646,084 Thopson Mar. 27, 1900 809,567 Henckel Jan. 9, 1906 Number Number 4 Name Date Matthews Feb. 15, 1910 McBride July 11, 1916 Hoyt Apr. 5, 1921 Milliron et a1 May 17, 1932 Tucker Sept. 6, 1932 Moss Nov. 15, 1932 Osherman et a1. Jan. 23, 1934 Stern July 24, 1934 Thomas -1- Nov. 26, 1935 Henriksen Mar. 24, 1936 Kuhnel Jan. 16, 1940 Van Alstyne Apr. 9, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain 1894 

